Inventory

It's been quite a ride, this June. In May, I said that I would like to see the project's support to Darfur increase by 40%, since the UN announced its decrease in rations by that amount. One short month later, I realize that support has actually increased by at least 400%, considering that the bags which used to sell at $25.00 now regularly bring in a hundred or more. Kind of makes me think of that bit in the Bible that says; "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over....." My further hope is that every bit of this food aid is getting to the suppressed in the camps. We can never imagine the life they try to scrape out in such destitution. We can't even comprehend the will to live.

As for me and my house? I continue to strive for balance. My biggest concern is my role as a mom. Especially as the children grow older. The preschool bits I have quite a bit of confidence about, seeing as I've been at it since about grade six. That's when I started baby-sitting and I've never really quit. But around here, we are entering some less familiar territory as the girls embark on their teen years. I won't be able to measure their love, or my adequacy in parenting them by counting sloppy kisses. Those days are behind us. The early, formative years are crucial, yet the following years are the ones that my children will likely not forget. It will form their opinions about what sort of home they grew up in, what their parents did "right" or "wrong", and what was important in their household. It is four short years until I am the parent of an adult. Inconcievable.

I'm going to need more of that God stuff.

This week is special. The children are finishing up school for the year. We will begin summer time, with it being Sam's last full summer before he becomes a school kid as well. We begin to anticipate trips to the cabin and time spent with faraway cousins. We begin to think about what we need for weeks away at camp. Brian and I prepare for Winnipeg Folk Festival, this year the both of us volunteering with the "le cusiene" crew. What an awesome time we are going to have together- it's been ten years since we were able to make it to the FF together. One of the benefits of the kids no longer being preschoolers!

I can look forward to fewer preschoolers in the house, as the teacher parents in my crew take their kids home for the summer. Alternately, I try to accomodate for the fact of my own children being at home. Try again to teach them to clean up after themselves, be active, pull their weight around the place, live less entitled. (*sigh*) We get to "use" our friends who put up a gigantic 27 foot round pool in their back yard. We can use them for their trampoline as well, since ours ripped after many years of faithful service, around the same time that the washing machine and sewing machines decided to go on disability. I hate stuff sometimes. Just as much as I love it.

So, that's it for a bit of inventory this morning. A thing not to be taken for granted that there is so much good to list. What about you? Top three things on your mind as you embark on your summer? Share them with me; it will make counting inventory a little more interesting.